Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a Camden County man was convicted at trial today of using a file-sharing network to share images and videos of Explicit Images of Minors over the Internet from his laptop computer.
Gerald D. Laphan, 28, of Mount Ephraim, N.J., was found guilty by a Camden County jury of charges of second-degree distribution of Explicit Images of Minors, second-degree offering of Explicit Images of Minors and fourth-degree possession of Explicit Images of Minors. The verdict followed a trial before Superior Court Judge John T. Kelley in Camden.
The charges were contained in a Sept. 24, 2014 state grand jury indictment that was the result of an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit (DTIU), the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office and other members of the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force.
Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison. Laphan will be subject to registration under Megan’s Law as a sex offender. He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 18.
Laphan was arrested on March 7, 2012 by the New Jersey State Police and other members of the ICAC Task Force. The investigation began with a referral from the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office. A Gloucester County detective initiated an investigation into peer-to-peer file sharing on a file-sharing network popular with offenders who trade Explicit Images of Minors. The detective identified a computer address that was offering multiple files of Explicit Images of Minors for any user to download using file-sharing software, and the detective successfully downloaded three videos of Explicit Images of Minors, including a video of an adult male raping a prepubescent girl.
The computer address was traced to Laphan’s residence in Mount Ephraim. At the time of his arrest, DTIU detectives, assisted by the State Police TEAMS South Unit and other ICAC Task Force members, executed a search warrant at Laphan’s home and seized two laptop computers. The two laptops were taken to the Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory in Hamilton for full forensic exams. Those exams revealed 265 files of Explicit Images of Minors, including videos and photos.
Acting Attorney General Hoffman and Director Honig urged anyone with information about the distribution of Explicit Images of Minors on the Internet – or about suspected improper contact by unknown persons communicating with children via the Internet or possible exploitation or sexual abuse of children – to please contact the New Jersey Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Tipline at888-648-6007.